Meal # 21 Slow Cooker Pork Loin

Amanda put Pork Chops on my list but I crossed off the Chops part and am cooking whatever kind of pork I can. I loaded this into the crocky pot one morning with a homemade packet of onion soup mix (which is just a bunch of herbs and salt, I am all about making my own stuff!) I also patted my pork loin so that it was dry then dusted the seasoning on the top. I gently placed him in the pot and closed the lid and left. About 8 hours later I cam home and it smelled heavenly. I swear I could put a old leather shoe in the crock pot and add some salt and basil and it would be edible. I quickly made some crescent rolls and a steam bag of green beans. I have to admit that those steamers which come frozen and just put in the microwave for 2 minutes and have nice hot veggies to go with your meal are so convenient. I know that fresh is better but they make it so hard! Anyway here are the stats!

Tiff - 3. 5
Joel - 3.25
Gabe - 3.75

Meal # 20 Thai Noodles with Veggies

I am so behind! I have been cooking up a storm but not sharing! So here is one I think I missed. I had been wanting to try a WOK recipe for a while now but to be honest that big ole metal bowl scares me. I put oil in it and it always gets so hot. I am not sure how to work that thing. So I started to heat up the wok and then turned around to cut up my veggies and then I turned around and it was smoking. ALREADY! I turned it down and threw in my veggies. Then I threw in my noodles from the Oriental Market (I am not even sure that I used the right kind). I also went willy nilly and threw in some Hoisin sauce, soy sauce and pretty much every oriental sauce in my house. Bad idea. It really didn't have any flavor and I poured soy sauce over my plate when it came time to eat. This was not very memorable but not terrible. I give it a 2 and Gabe a 3. Eh.

Maybe I am not cut out for oriental cooking. Back to the cookbooks.

Mush Shu Tiffany

Meal # 19 Pom Pom's PBJ Marshmallow Banana Sandwich

I went to this great restaurant the other day and had the most amazing sandwich. It was 3 gigantic slices of the thickest, savoriest bread ever. One slice had creamy peanut butter, one had strawberry jam, one bananas, one marshmallow fluff. Slap them all together and you get the best midnight snack ever. Monday nights tend to be our later night, we have home group then some people come over for a meeting with our roommate. Lots of people to try my food! So I usually try to feed anyone that comes over, my dad is Pakistani and that is what we do. We feed people. I love it. So I decided to try my hand and making this Pom Pom sandwich. Needless to say it wasn't as good as Pom Pom but it was totally delicious and hearty sweet goodness. The bread really matters and I will try this one again with some better bread. Maybe Beer Bread!

Joel - 3.5
Tiff - 3.5
I think most every gave me about a 3.5...not to shabby!

I feel like eating one right now...comfort food....

Tiffany

Meal # 18 Smoked Herring

I haven't blogged in a while because I am trying not to skip around but blog in an organized manner which meant that I would have to blog about my experience with the smoked herring I bought at the Caribbean Market. I have finally come to grips with it about 2 weeks later. Let me begin at the beginning. Amanda and my friends had put smoked herring on my list and it never really bothered me until I had to buy it. I was meandering about the market when I saw in plan sight a package of smoked herring. It was only a couple of dollars and I thought it didn't look bad at all. Just slices of the outer part of a small fish. It smelled profound however. Very smoky. Not bad just very smoky. I showed the hubby and he asked me what I plan to do with it. I had envisioned it on toasty crackers with cheese and olives. That sounded good plus cheese and olives were on my list as well and I was feeling the need to cross off more than just one thing. So I brought it home and a couple of days later opened it up. The smell was so salty that I felt as if I was deep sea fishing. I began to cut it and handle it with my bare hands (which I learned later was not a good idea) I cut it up and toasted it in the oven because I did not think cold would be the way to go. I ended up burning the edges which was the first really bad sign. I mean it was already smoked but... I finally took a little bite of the herring as I was making my appetizer. I almost gagged. It was so extremely salty the fact that I am thinking about it right now makes we want to drink some water. The amazing part was that I just kept right on making up these little toasted herring thingamabobs like I was actually gonna eat them. I told myself that my husband would eat them. He likes everything! So we sat down and admired my presentation which was the only good thing about this disgusting dish. We each popped one in our mouth (I some how thought that the olives and cheese would make the herring edible) and chewed and chewed and never got past the fishy salty, beef jerky texture. I eventually spit mine out. I picked all the olives and cheese off and tried to eat them but the herring had got to it first. Everything tasted and smelled like that nasty herring! Would life ever taste good again! Oh wait, I got a whiff of herring after I cleaned it all up and guess what? My hands reeked of herring for at least 2 days. Oh misery. A finally disastrous meal. It was bound to happen. I have moved on. I hope that I never, ever have the opportunity to eat this again.

Meal # 17 Beer Bread

My friend Lisa had told me about a really easy bread recipe that called for a Heiniken Beer. She said, "All you do is put some flour, baking soda, sugar and salt in a bowl then pour in a bottle of beer." I was like, "That sounds too easy to be any good." But I trust my friend Lisa because she doesn't lie and I tried it. It was a one bowl bread, no kneading, or waiting or punching or waiting or anything. It was so easy! I poured the batter into the loaf pan and drizzled with butter (She said this was the key to crunchy crusts) I threw it into the oven for 30 minutes until it looked brown and crisp on the top. I let it cook for just a few minutes and then popped it out. I couldn't resist cutting a slice and trying it. It was THE BEST BREAD I have ever even eaten! It was savory! I have always wondered what that word really means but you have to taste this bread to know!

For being a bread I give it

Tiff - 4.5
Gabe - 5
A bunch of others ate it after it had cooled so it lost some points but I would make it everyday!

Butter. It is always the butter...

Butter me up Tiff!

Meal # 16 Creamy Parmesean and Broccoli Pasta

This meal was a whippersnapper. I surveyed my pantry and my stomach. Something fast and carb loaded. Then my brain said, "Throw the broccoli in there!" I love shell shaped pasta. It makes me feel like I am at the beach. I quickly steamed the broccoli and boiled the pasta. Then I combined the cheese and some half and half. Voila! A superb dinner although nothing special...

Gabe - 3
Tiff - 3

Zippy Tiffy

Meal # 15 Peanut Butter Pie

Amanda has been missing most of my creations so I made her favorite peanut butter pie today. Jenny and I whipped this up in a hour and I think I put too much peanut butter. I eyeballed it and figured you can't go wrong with too much peanut butter. I dedicated this to my favorite Amanda in the whole world.

Jenny - 3
Amanda - 5 (she was biased because it had an A on it.)
Courtney - 3.5
Tiffany - 3

Jenny and I regret the cream cheese and think vanilla pudding would be better.

Tiffany

Meal # 14 Pork Chops Wrapped in Bacon

I came home the other night with a plan forming in my head on what to do with a couple of pork chops. I used to be a vegetarian and the biggest thing I missed was a McDonald's Big Mac and real bacon. I would get tofu bacon and eat it whenever I had the craving. The tofu bacon was actually quite good and settled the demanding meat man inside me. A couple draw backs? It looked like a dog treat and it chewed like plastic. So I was having a hankering for bacon and I needed to use these chops. So I did what I feel like good chefs do; I wrapped pork in pork and fried it up in a skillet. I seasoned it with salt, pepper, and some parsley. I put some rice on and quartered a fresh cabbage which I steamed. This was a pleasant surprise but not a pleasant odor. Cabbage smells like a fart but it tasted earthy. I sprinkled it with salt and pepper and let it just get soft enough to be a compliment to my pork. It also still had some nutrients in it which was the healthy part of my meal. After it all came to a end, this was the first meal in a long time I made all on my own. It was rather good. I think I will wrap more things in bacon.

Gabe -4.25
Tiff - 4.5

What about wrapping pigs feet in bacon?
Mmmmm. Think about it?

Tiffany